Potential effects of herbal medicines and nutritional supplements on coagulation in ENT practice

Abstract

Background: Herbal remedies and other natural supplements have become popular alternative medical therapy. Patients using these products may present to ENT surgeons with epistaxis or with unexpected, excessive peri-operative bleeding.

Objective: The purpose of this review was to consolidate the available data regarding herb-drug interactions and the direct effects of herbal medicines and nutritional supplements in isolation, regarding disturbance in haemostasis, so as to emphasise their individual importance.

Method: A literature review was performed using the Medline (PubMed) and UKMi databases.

Results: Searches of these databases revealed 24 herbal products with documented interactions with anticoagulants and 98 herbal products with theoretical interactions with the coagulation system. Herbal products with effects on coagulation when given alone were also documented.

Conclusion: When encountering patients presenting with epistaxis, or in the elective surgical setting, a thorough enquiry about the use of herbal medicines is of great importance.